Black Friday 2020, Some Ideas For Your Business

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It’s that time of year when businesses start gearing up for the festive season. You know, the one with all the gift-buying and a husky chap in a red suit. And most people start their shopping and preparations around Black Friday. It only makes sense to take advantage of all those fabulous deals when buying gifts. There’s a whole lot more “bang for your buck”. However, Black Friday 2020 is going to be a completely different event from years gone past. November 27th is just around the corner, and personal service gifts might be ready for a surge this year.

Is Black Friday Cancelled This Year?

On a global scale, no. However, in light of the number of countries currently weathering the second wave of COVID-19 infections and also more lockdowns, the traditional in-store rampages and queues are going to be pretty quiet when stores are closed.

Sure, online retailers are in the perfect position to really rake in cash this year, because no one can go out to do their Christmas shopping. In response to the severe detriment that this will have on the local stores and small businesses, France has asked Amazon to halt their month-long Black Friday campaign. 

Between services and small local retail businesses, lockdowns have hit hard on the finances of many. If you don’t run your own business, you probably know someone who does. Everyone has been affected both directly and indirectly by lockdown measures. Consequently, we are more aware and sympathetic to the cause of “buying local” and from small businesses. 

This year might well be the time to capitalise on all those things people say they want to do “after lockdown” but never seem to get around doing.

Many local services and businesses, badly affected by everything that happened this year, are in a prime position to welcome the New Year with a spot of cheer.

Why People Embrace Black Friday

Everyone loves a bargain, and the timing of Black Friday (the Friday following Thanksgiving in the US) puts it is the prime time for buying many gifts at a much-reduced price. Not only is Black Friday an ideal time to purchase gifts, but it’s also a time when people can justify splashing out a little on themselves. Some people even start saving up for those little treats they can’t afford at other times. So I’m going to suggest a few promotional ideas that could signal a strong beginning to the New Year.

Fingers-crossed for that promised vaccine!

Black Friday 2020 – “Gifting Time”

So what can your business offer in terms of gifts for friends and loved ones?

Gifting Services

Service business comes in so many different forms, it’s difficult to make suggestions that don’t apply to a single sector, but I’ll try to take as broad an approach as possible.

Three prevalent areas for gifting are those for beauty treatments, personal learning and development, and other personalised services. When people gift a “service” to someone, it’s usually with a specific amount of intimate knowledge of the individual receiving the gift. When you give a particular service as a gift, it’s with the understanding that the recipient either would love it, or they desperately need it.

Some examples that could come up:

• Giving three months of weekly cleaning services to new parents.
• A photography course for someone with a newfound interest in taking pictures (maybe they have a new camera, but don’t know how to use all of its functions).
• Hypnotherapy for the person who’s decided to quit smoking at NewYear.
• Spiritual Mentoring, for the person who has tried making a change in their lives.

I can’t possibly cover every sector and subsector of the service industry here, but this is just an illustration of the personalisation that a service gift could have. 

Gifting Vouchers

A less targeted and personal option is the gift voucher. It might be that the giver doesn’t have intimate knowledge of the receiver’s preferences, or maybe there are just too many options, and it would be better for the recipient to choose the service they would prefer. 

With vouchers, you have two options: 

• A monetary value that they can use towards one or several of your services
• A service redeemable voucher, i.e. this voucher entitles the bearer to one service from Column A, two from Column B, or however you want to organise it.

The voucher angle puts the choice of the perfect gift firmly in the hands of the person receiving it.

Packaging Products and Services Together

Do you know that some people don’t like giving gift vouchers or money because it feels impersonal and “there’s nothing to open”? Many people think this way, and others put an extraordinary amount of effort into wrapping gifts (I admit it, I’m one of those people). 

If someone buys a gift service for someone special, do you have associated products that could be wrapped and given, with a printable voucher for the service or monetary voucher gifted? If your business is still under closure due to lockdown, you could make preparations now and even provide a wrapping service.

Alternatively, you can include any products in the service when it occurs. Although sending the products first might allow you to get in an up-sell when they come in for the appointment they have received. Packaging both services and products together makes an excellent gift.

Black Friday 2020 – “A little something for ME”

I said a lot of people save up for the bargains available on Black Friday, and services aren’t exempt. A typical self-care purchase on Black Friday is fitness related. The number of Gyms that sell their annual memberships at a staggering discount is phenomenal. I suspect this year will be even more generous, with people rejoining old gyms that closed for so long during lockdowns and subscriptions that expired and never renewed. 

Promoting Self-Care ( and a little self-indulgence)

This year has been rough on everyone. Mentally, emotionally and physically. With Christmas just around the corner and a super-tiresome year coming to an end, many people thoroughly deserve a treat. Encourage your clients to treat themselves to a little something extra at a super-bargain price.

You could even use promoting self-care in conjunction with a gift idea. Something along the lines of “buy a gift package and get a -?% off voucher for yourself.”

Getting the Word Out!

How do you let people know what you have in store for the Black Friday weekend? 

Even if you’ve never felt the desire to pay for advertising before, now might be a good time to spend. Make your business visible to people who will buy services, either as a gift or as a treat for themselves; it’s worth it.  

It’s also worth looking at your email marketing. You might send infrequent newsletters and updates about the business, but when you want people to spend money on a specific day, you need to get specific and targeted.

The benefit of using Facebook ads for your business is that for locally targeted ads, in a specific demographic, the cost is not high when your pool of potential customers is so small (comparative to a global scale). You can drill down to particular target demographics to get the most from your advertising budget.

If you want to target your existing customers and get them to buy your services as Christmas gifts, use your client list and target those who’ve used your services repeatedly. There’s no greater advocate than a loyal customer. Even if it’s just for a seasonal mail campaign, it’s worth investing in your email format to get just the right tone and eye-catching content. 

Black Friday 2020 – Paving the way 2021 Recovery

Despite everything that has happened this year, Black Friday could prove to be the perfect renewal tool. Just in time for the possible new vaccination, and an end in sight for the circumstances of the outgoing year. 

It’s also a way to bring in new customers from the advocacy and generosity of your loyal clients. Don’t let Black Friday 2020, and all its possibilities, pass you by. Grab every opportunity to leave behind the bad parts of 2020 and emerge stronger in 2021.